Chicago's Alternative | Modern Rock | Q101 | 101.1 WKQX

Shazam: Always Listening On Your Mac

November 19, 2016 | Eric

So, you have to toggle Shazam’s microphone on/off with either the iOS or Android versions of the app. And it should default to off.

However, if you have the music identification service installed on your Mac computer…it is ALWAYS. LISTENING. Allow that to sink in. That’s some Big Brother-type stuff.

Now, Shazam says they aren’t recording or listening in on you…but still. Creepy, right? I don’t know about you, but I checked all my microphone settings on all my phone apps just to be aware of who exactly can put their ear on what I do. Not like its really interesting or anything. What you do with the Mac version of the program is up to you.

Find out how a former NSA operative found out about this (from Consumerist). And in the future, just text “SONGS” to 312101 if you want to know what we are playing.

VIDEO: Orchrestra kills it with Rage Against the Machine cover

November 19, 2016 | Kevin

The guitar-crunching grooving moving monster that is Rage Against the Machine would never strike anyone as have anything to do with classical violin string sections, horn sections, and the grandiose nature of an orchrestra but Metamorphestra, an musical group that previously posted unique takes on music by Tool and System of a Down have proven any doubt wrong this week with a rousing cover of ‘Bulls of Parade’. You can see more on this Youtube channel.

RATM may not be active at the moment, but Prophets of Rage the super group of Rage members Tom Morello, Tim Comerford, and Brad Wilk playing with duel front men Chuck D of Public Enemy and B-Real of Cypress Hill. Watch them here. Tom Morello also popped up at Lollapalooza earlier this year in his hometown Chicago, to do a kick-ass performance with X-Ambassasdors.

MASH-UP AWESOMNESS: DAFT PUNK + BEASTIE BOYS

November 19, 2016 | Kevin

Mash-ups are a mixed bag. Sometimes they fail to meet your initial expectation, and other times they hit the spot as a perfect dance mix of familiar artists with every hook complimenting each other. Toronto music producer Coins delivered the latter with his full album mashup of dance music icons Daft Punk and alt rap legends Beastie Boys. The album titled ‘Daft Science’ perfectly blends the rhymes of MCA, Mike D, and Ad-Rock, the turntable magic of Mix Master Mike, and the hypnotic hip-shaking slickness of the French robots. It’s immediately clear on one listen, this kicks all the butts. The best part is the entire album is online for FREE, listen to the whole thing below.

Considering the passing of Adam Yauch due to cancer in 2012 marked the end of the Beastie Boys, this is a warm reminder of why their music is eternally fun. Maybe this can also serve as another reason for Daft Punk fans to salivate over those tour rumors we’ve been hearing about.

If you are a fan of EDM, catch our Saturday night show Electric Playground featuring some of the best DJ’s in Chicago spinning into the AM, all hosted by Andres Solaris and Nosmo. You can catch their shows on-demand here.

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ‘DAFT SCIENCE’ ALBUM HERE

<a href="http://coinsmakeyoudance.bandcamp.com/album/daft-science">Daft Science by Coins</a>

FOAM BLOB TAKES OVER SAN JOSE…no it’s not a rave

November 18, 2016 | Kevin

Firefighting foam released from back of @FlySJC hangar is blowing around in the wind. It looks like soap, but I wouldn’t advise touching it. pic.twitter.com/fDI3j0gmP7

— Jonathan Bloom (@BloomTV) November 18, 2016

#LIVE COVERAGE of #FoamBlob watch continues in Santa Clara, CA – Blake just jumped into the foam! https://t.co/8PuLMJOcTu pic.twitter.com/pNLUyma0FV

— FOX 10 News Now (@FOX10NewsNow) November 18, 2016

A ‘foam blob’ flowed through the streets of San Jose, California today and no it was not a foam dance party that turned into a monster. The massive foam has been connected with accidental release of fire-extinguishing foam at the nearby San Jose International Airport. And once people found out that it was not toxic, they started riding their bikes through it.

A Special Chicago Skyline LEGO Set Is Hitting Stores Next Month

November 17, 2016 | Marconi🍕

(from chicagoist.com)

If there’s one thing we love more than Chicago architecture, it’s LEGOs. So we’re in luck: Chicago will be the subject of LEGO’s latest Architecture Skyline series, featuring the Sears Tower, the Hancock Tower, the Michigan Avenue river bridge and more.

The entire new “Chicago (21033)” set has 444 LEGO pieces, and you’ll only be able to find it in three area stores this December, according to Curbed: The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s gift shop in the Loop, the Water Tower Place LEGO store in Gold Coast, and Schaumburg’s LEGOLAND Discovery Center. (MORE HERE)

I NEED THIS!!! You know for when my nephews visit from Colorado. – m

The CTA’s Holiday Train returns this weekend

November 17, 2016 | Marconi🍕

(from timeout.com)

The most magical time of the year officially swings into gear this weekend with the return of the CTA Holiday Train. Watch as Santa’s sleigh leads mass transportation around the city for the coming weeks, with the inaugural ride on the Red Line this Saturday. Southbound Red Line trains start at the Howard Station at 4:43pm and are scheduled to arrive at 95th Street at 5:56pm, while northbound Red Line trains start at the 95th Street Station at 6:29pm and are scheduled to pull into Howard at 7:42pm. (MORE HERE)

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong wants the phones away at concerts

November 17, 2016 | Kevin

In what seems to be a consistent debate in all forms of life nowadays, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong recently stood against the overuse of smartphones at concerts during a recent Q&A in London.

“Social media can be a very miserable place to be. At our shows I see lot of people holding up cell phones. You can look at a screen at home; you can look at your computer or your phone anywhere.”said Armstrong according to NME. The Bay area rock vet emphasized further that it’s about human contact and being apart of something in the moment. “You can take your picture but let’s have eye contact, let’s have a human experience right now you can’t capture on a cell phone. Why would you want to listen to your favorite song going like this [holds arm in air] when you can just hear it right in front of you? I feel like a little more human contact is good.”

We are all guilty of little bit too much Snapchat or Instagram in any setting sometimes right? How do we control the social media beast within all of us? Well, a pretty controversial and tech product has been introduced at some live events in the last year that may make some of you really happy you don’t have to stare at a screen when you are trying to stare a stage or it may make you very angry that you can’t Facebook Live what you are looking at. Yondr is a tech device that has been the talk of the concert industry in the last year, as it allows users to voluntarily take their phone out of the rock show experience. It’s basically a pouch that locks up your phone while you are at a show. The Yondr pouches were implemented as a mandatory at a string of sold-out shows by comedian Dave Chapelle at Chicago’s Thalia Hall back in January. Surprisingly these are really effective and may change the way people take in a concert.

Our buddies Consequences of Sound interview the Graham Dugoni, founder of the company Yondr.